April 19
In the Gregorian Calendar, Easter Sunday falls on 19 April more often than on any other date. Events *1012 - Martyrdom of St. Alphege in Greenwich. *1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer, a group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities (German: Reichsstadt) protests the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms, beginning the Protestant movement. *1587 - Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbor. *1692 - Bridget Bishop goes on trial in Salem, Massachusetts for witchcraft. *1713 - With no living male heirs, Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inherited by his daughter, Maria Theresa (not actually born until 1717). ': American Revolution begins]] *1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Lexington and Concord which began the American Revolutionary War. *1809 - The army of Austria attacks and is defeated by the forces of the Duchy of Warsaw in the Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the Fifth Coalition. *1810 - Venezuela achieves home rule: Vicente Emparan, Governor of the Captaincy General is removed by the people of Caracas and a Junta is installed. *1839 - The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom. *1861 - American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861, a pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, attacks United States Army troops marching through the city. *1892 - Charles Duryea claims to have driven the first automobile in the United States, in Springfield. *1904 - Much of Toronto, Canada, is destroyed by fire. *1909 - Joan of Arc receives beatification. *1919 - Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute. *1927 - Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play ''Sex. *1928 - The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published. *1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that the United States will be abandoning the gold standard. *1934 - Shirley Temple debuts in Stand Up and Cheer. *1936 - First day of the Great Uprising in Palestine. *1943 - World War II: In Poland, German troops enter the Warsaw ghetto to round up the remaining Jews, beginning the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. * 1943 - Bicycle Day – Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time. *1950 - Argentina becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty. *1951 - General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military. *1954 - Constituent Assembly of Pakistan decides Urdu and Bengali to be national languages of Pakistan. *1955 - The German automaker Volkswagen, after six years of selling cars in the United States, founds Volkswagen of America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize its dealer and service network. *1956 - Actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III of Monaco. *1960 - Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign. *1961 - The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba ends in success for the defenders. *1971 - Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president. * 1971 - Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington. * 1971 - Launch of Salyut 1, first human-made space station. *1976 - Executive Order 9066 is rescinded. *1978 - Lagumot Harris is elected President of Nauru. *1985 - Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours. * 1985 - U.S.S.R performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk U.S.S.R. *1987 - The Simpsons make their television debut in the short "Good Night" a segment for The Tracey Ullman Show. *1989 - A gun turret explodes on the [[Wikipedia:USS Iowa (BB-61)|USS Iowa]], killing 47 sailors. *1991 - Evander Holyfield defeats George Foreman by unanimous decision to retain the world heavyweight championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey. *1993 - The 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die. *1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, is bombed, killing 168. That same day convicted murderer Richard Wayne Snell, who had ties to bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh, was executed in Arkansas. *1999 - The German Bundestag returns to Berlin. *2000 - An Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 crashes near Davao International Airport, killing 131. *2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the Papal conclave. Births *1320 - King Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367) *1452 - King Ferdinand II of Aragon (d. 1516) *1603 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman (d. 1685) *1658 - Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (d. 1716) *1665 - Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer (d. 1721) *1686 - Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman (d. 1750) *1721 - Roger Sherman, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (d. 1793) *1785 - Alexandre Pierre François Boëly, French composer (d. 1858) *1793 - Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria (d. 1875) *1814 - Louis Amédée Achard, French Novelist (d. 1875) *1832 - José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916) *1874 - Ernst Rüdin, Swiss psychiatrist, geneticist, and eugenicist (d. 1952) *1877 - Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor (d. 1934) *1882 - Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil (d. 1954) *1883 - Richard von Mises, Austrian-born mathematician (d. 1953) *1889 - Otto Georg Thierack, German jurist and politician (d. 1946) *1892 - Germaine Tailleferre, French composer (d. 1983) *1897 - Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1970) * 1897 - Constance Talmadge, American actress (d. 1973) *1899 - George O'Brien, American actor (d. 1985) *1900 - Richard Hughes, English novelist (d. 1976) * 1900 - Roland Michener, Governor General of Canada (d. 1991) *1903 - Eliot Ness, American lawman (d. 1957) *1912 - Glenn Seaborg, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999) *1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographher *1922 - Erich Hartmann, German pilot (d. 1993) *1925 - Hugh O'Brian, American actor *1928 - Alexis Korner, English musician (d. 1984) *1930 - Dick Sargent, American actor (d. 1994) *1931 - Walter Stewart, Canadian journalist (d. 2004) *1932 - Dickie Goodman, American humorist (d. 1989) *1933 - Dickie Bird, English cricket umpire * 1933 - Jayne Mansfield, American actress (d. 1967) *1934 - Dickie Goodman, American producer of novelty songs (d. 1989) *1935 - Dudley Moore, English actor, musician, comedian, composer (d. 2002) *1936 - Wilfried Martens, Prime Minister of Belgium *1937 - Elinor Donahue, American actress * 1937 - Joseph Estrada, actor and President of the Philippines *1940 - Genya Ravan, American vocalist (Goldie & the Gingerbreads, Ten Wheel Drive) *1941 - Roberto Carlos, Brazilian singer * 1941 - Alan Price, English musician (The Animals, The Alan Price Set) * 1941 - Bobby Russell, American songwriter (d. 1992) *1942 - Jack Roush, American founder of Roush Fenway Racing *1943 - Eve Graham, Scottish singer (The New Seekers) *1944 - James Heckman, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize * 1944 - Bernie Worrell, American keyboardist (P Funk) *1946 - Tim Curry, British actor *1947 - Murray Perahia, American pianist * 1947 - Mark Volman, American musician (The Turtles) *1948 - Rick Miller, American baseball player *1949 - Paloma Picasso daughter of artist Pablo Picasso * 1949 - Larry Walters, American "lawn chair" pilot *1951 - Barry Brown, American actor and writer (d. 1978) * 1951 - Jóannes Eidesgaard, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands *1952 - Alexis Arguello, Nicaraguan boxer *1953 - Rod Morgenstein, American musician (Winger) * 1953 - Ruby Wax, British television personality *1954 - Bob Rock, Canadian record producer & musician (The Payolas) *1957 - Mukesh Ambani, Indian Business Tycoon *1960 - Roger Merrett, Australian footballer * 1960 - John Schweitz, American basketball player and coach * 1960 - Frank Viola, baseball player *1962 - Al Unser, Jr., American race car driver *1965 - Natalie Dessay, French soprano * 1965 - Suge Knight, American record producer *1966 - Véronique Gens, French soprano * 1966 - Osamu Matsuda, Japanese professional wrestler * 1966 - Julia Neigel, German singer and songwriter *1967 - Steven H Silver, American science fiction editor * 1967 - Dar Williams, American musician and songwriter *1968 - Ashley Judd, American actress * 1968 - Craig McNeil, American writer, lawyer, and military officer * 1968 - Mswati III, King of Swaziland *1969 - Jesse James, Television personality, Custom motorcycle builder * 1969 - Susan Polgar, Hungarian-born American chess player *1970 - Kelly Holmes, English athlete * 1970 - Luis Miguel, Mexican pop-singer *1972 - Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer *1974 - Akara Amarttayakul, Thai actor *1975 - Jason Gillespie, Australian cricketer * 1975 - Jussi Jääskeläinen, Finnish footballer *1976 - Ruud Jolie, Dutch guitarist (Within Temptation) * 1976 - Scott Padgett, American basketball player *1977 - Lucien Mettomo, Cameroonian footballer *1978 - James Franco, American actor * 1978 - Gabriel Heinze, Argentinian footballer * 1978 - Amanda Sage, American born visionary artist *1979 - Kate Hudson, American actress *1981 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor * 1981 - Martin Havlat, Czech hockey player * 1981 - Kasie Head, American actress and model * 1981 - Troy Polamalu, American football player * 1981 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress *1983 - Alberto Callaspo, American baseball player * 1983 - Zack Duke, American baseball player * 1983 - Joe Mauer, American baseball player * 1983 - Curtis Thigpen, American baseball player *1984 - Lee Da Hae, South Korean actress *1985 - Michael Anderson, American Wrestler *1986 - Candace Parker, American basketball player *1987 - Joe Hart, English Under-21 Footballer *1987 - Oksana Akinshina, Russian actress * 1987 - Courtland Mead, American actor * 1987 - Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player *1989 - Fiona MacGillivray, Canadian vocalist (The Cottars) *1990 - Kim Chiu, Filipino actress Deaths *1012 - Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 954) *1054 - Pope Leo IX (b. 1002) *1390 - King Robert II of Scotland (b. 1316) *1560 - Philipp Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (b. 1497) *1567 - Michael Stifel, German mathematician (b. 1487) *1578 - Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1530) *1588 - Paolo Veronese, Italian painter *1608 - Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman and poet (b. 1536) *1618 - Thomas Bastard, clergyman and epigrammatist (b. 1565 or 1566) *1627 - John Beaumont, English poet (b. 1583) *1629 - Sigismondo d'India, Italian composer *1632 - King Sigismund I of Sweden (b. 1561) *1684 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (b. 1603) *1686 - Antonio de Solís y Ribadeneyra, Spanish writer (b. 1610) *1689 - Queen Christina of Sweden (b. 1626) *1733 - Elizabeth Villiers, mistress of William III of England *1739 - Nicholas Saunderson, English mathematician (b. 1682/3) *1751 - Peter Lacy, Irish-born Russian Field marshal (b. 1678) *1768 - Canaletto, Italian artist (b. 1697) *1791 - Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (b. 1723) *1813 - Benjamin Rush, physician, activist (b. 1745) *1824 - George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, English poet (b. 1788) *1831 - Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German mathematician (b. 1765) *1840 - Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Roman catholic bishop of Montreal (b. 1777) *1854 - Robert Jameson, Scottish naturalist (b. 1774) *1881 - Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1804) *1882 - Charles Darwin, English biologist (b. 1809) *1892 - Fr. Thomas Dale SSC, Anglican clergyman prosecuted for Ritualist practices in the 1870s (b. 1821) *1906 - Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859) *1906 - Spencer Gore, British tennis player and cricketer (b. 1850) *1914 - Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher and mathematician (b. 1839) *1916 - Ephraim Shay, American inventor (b. 1839) *1926 - Alexander Alexandrovich Chuprov, Russian statistician (b. 1874) *1930 - Georges-Casimir Dessaulles, Canadian senator (b. 1827) *1937 - William Martin Conway, British art critic and mountaineer (b. 1856) *1949 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877) *1950 - Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886) *1967 - Konrad Adenauer, German statesman (b. 1876) *1988 - Kwon Ki-ok, first Korean female pilot (b. 1901) *1989 - Daphne du Maurier, British novelist (b. 1907) *1991 - Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian film producer, director and administrator (b. 1905) *1992 - Frankie Howerd, English comedian (b. 1917) *1993 - David Koresh, leader of Branch Davidians (b. 1959) *1993 - George S. Mickelson, American politician (b. 1941) *1997 - El Duce, American singer and drummer (The Mentors) (b. 1958) *1998 - Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914) *1999 - David Sanes, US Navy employee * 1999 - Hermine Braunsteiner, Nazi war criminal (b. 1919) *2000 - Louis Applebaum, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1918) *2004 - Norris McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (b. 1925) * 2004 - John Maynard Smith, English biologist (b. 1920) *2005 - Ruth Hussey, American actress (b. 1911) * 2005 - Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish jazz bassist (b. 1946) * 2005 - Blade Icewood, American rapper (b. 1977) * 2005 - George Pan Cosmatos, Greek film director (b. 1941) *2006 - Scott Crossfield, American pilot, first man to fly at Mach 2 (b. 1921) * 2006 - Zola Levitt, Messianic Jewish preacher (b. 1938) *2007 - Jean-Pierre Cassel, French actor (b. 1932) * 2007 - Helen Walton, wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton (b. 1919) Holidays and observances *Patriot's Day (Traditional) (Massachusetts, Maine, and Wisconsin, USA). *Bicycle Day. *Declaration of Independence Day (Venezuela). *Landing of the 33 (Uruguay). *Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church: **Saint Emma **George of Antioch **Expeditus **Alphege *Primrose Day (England) – primroses are placed on the statue of Benjamin Disraeli in Parliament Square, London on the anniversary of his death (1881). *The Roman holiday of Cerealia ends. (Roman Empire) *Easter Sunday 1908, 1981, 1987, 1992. *"Dia do Índio" in Brazil *King Mswati III's birthday (Swaziland) External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:April